Accel World: The Untold Story Of The Disaster Armour
by Tusjecht
Summary: THIS STORY IS CANCELLED. It got blown into AU territory after I read V8 of the light novels, so there's not much reason left for it to continue. Rewriting soon; head to the forum to submit any characters you'd want to see! See Profile for details.
1. Gift From The Little Bird

**Gift From The Little Bird**

* * *

_The colour of a Burst Linker determines his Duel Avatar's affinity. «Blue» avatars attack directly at close range, «Red» avatars attack from afar and great distances, and «Yellow» avatars utilise indirect attacks. «Purple» and «Green», being secondary colours, exhibit a combination of affinities. Also, there are colours that lie outside of the color circle, namely metallic «Metal Colours». Instead of offensive affinities, these are best at defense affinities._

_-Kuroyukihime, «Duel Avatar affinities» explanatory mail_

* * *

For the first time since I had begun schooling, I was afraid to step into school.

For the whole of last week, I had spent my days in a hospital ward. Not a bed - that would have been excruciatingly boring. I had been warded for psychiatric treatment.

As for why I needed the treatment, I will not say, except that it was probably a waste of my time. He knew pretty well I was not going to even talk about « that incident » and yet he still tried. I only respect him for having the determination to keep trying every day.

_Talk is useless,_ I thought._ Everything you need to know has already been recorded by the « Social Security Camera » in that alley. I don't want to talk about it._

Humans are social creatures. Stop talking, and nothing will get done; this reasoning has drove me to remain silent for nearly a week now. As if it'd last forever though. Silence is a poor protection in a class setting; classmates would attempt to talk to me, teachers would probe, and perhaps, the bullying that I've escaped for two years now will finally make me its target.

_Not good._ I thought. _The bell will ring in a few minutes...I'll be registered as late...and people are going to talk about me again!_

"Shove it, Kyousuke," I muttered to myself. "Just say you were badly sick. Just sick. Badly sick. That's all..."

The narcissistic encouragement did spur me somehow. Taking a step forward, I passed through the gates and entered Hiroo Elementary School.

* * *

"Hey, Kousaka!"

"If it isn't the famous Mansaka!"

"Are you angry? Gonna hit us?"

Ryuuzugano, Akajime, and Arakaya. Three of the tallest, strongest, and most loud-mouthed boys in class, snidely remarked as they surrounded my table during break. Lowering my head to avoid the stares of everyone else, I quickly tucked the old textbook under the table and brought out a simple, prepared bento. _Shit, things are unravelling!_

My attempt to hide the book failed. Ryuuzugano reached under and fished out the book in a flash. Before I could stop him, he had tossed it in the air and flashed its cover for all to see.

"Ooh, what's this, Ma~nsaka?" Ryuuzugano asked with a mock air of amazement, emphasising on the first syllable. " « Newtonian Physics: Comprehensive Study and Questions » ? Wow Mansaka, I didn't know you're such a genius!"

This was really starting to irritate me.

So what if I could handle high school physics? That was my property and he had no right to touch it at all! Standing up, I made a grab for it, but Ryuuzugano held it just out of my reach.

"Give it back!" I wanted to yell. My voice cracked, however, and the result sounded like a pained gasp of a puppy.

"Eh, not so fast, Mansaka." Ryuuzugano cackled.

"Maybe he'll give it back if you tell us what happened two weeks ago!" Akajime interjected. A smile took hold of his blemished complexion and distorted an otherwise average-looking face.

"Yeah, we're dying~ to know all about it, Mansaka," Arakaya chuckled from behind me. "We don't know anything, the news never said nothing!"

_Oh god, I'm being bullied with bad Japanese_, I thought. _Bad English is acceptable, but to use a double negative, it's just stupid!_

Arakaya clamped my arms to the side. Ryuuzugano leaned in and bared his teeth for effect. _Mint breath?_ I smelt. _What are you, hipsters?_

"Well, Kousaka?" He leered. "The book or the truth?"

Truth be told, the book was already scanned into my Neuro Linker's library. I could read it at my own luxury in the privacy of my own eyes anywhere. Every kid my age has had one since birth. But, there's something about books that always fascinated me. I found this book in Mr Izayoi's trash one day, and was seized by the notion that this book, which somebody must have gone to so much trouble to write, edit, and print, was going to get incinerated and transformed to ash.

Without thinking, I had kept the book and brought it with me everyday to school to read, leading to this « incident » . Now, I had to choose; give up this rare, paper-and-glue textbook or relate « that day » ?

_Three men standing in the alley, sobbing sounds coming from behind my back. The man in the centre began to smile sinisterly-_

My breath became ragged. I glanced this way and that, and blood pounded in my ears. I couldn't think. Curling my fists on instinct, I stared Ryuuzugano in the eye and-

"Let him go!"

A small, but strong girl's voice shrilled. All four of us froze and searched for that one brave soul who dared to interfere with the bullies.

The owner of the voice was the diminutive Aomizu Kotori, the quietest girl in the class. She, like me now, avoided attention by simply refusing to talk to others. The ponytail she kept draped over one shoulder, curiously, was not cleanly trimmed, instead having several wayward strands of different lengths. Some had speculated it had been burnt in a fire, although Aomizu had neither confirmed nor rejected these rumours.

Right now, the most unlikeliest of people was standing up on my behalf, despite even Ryuuzugano, the shortest of the three, standing a full head and a quarter taller. Shifting their attention, the trio swaggered over and surrounded her.

_Aomizu, you nosy fool,_ I thought. _No use getting involved in anybody else's business._ With a pang of pain, I added to that thought: _not even your own family._

Surrounded by three boys so much taller than she was, the faintest traces of fear began to appear on her face. Dilated pupils, unsteady hands: classic signs of fear. Ryuuzugano was never known to go easy once he had found someone to pick on. Yet, Aomizu stood her ground.

"Well well, seems like Mansaka has a little friend!" Ryuuzugano quivered in pretentious fear.

"Maybe...YOU can tell us what happened instead!" Akajime simpered. "Your dear Mansaka isn't telling us anything!"

Aomizu's face flushed red. "N-No, it isn't anything like that!"

_I've had enough of this_, I thought. _I'll just grab my book and leave._

Ryuuzugano held the thick book loosely in his right hand. Standing up, I quietly stepped behind and snatched it back in a flash.

"Eh- wha?!" He realised too late. I already turned and fled the classroom before he could lay another finger on my book. I dashed past curious students in the corridor and up the stairs three at a time, stopping only when I reached the fourth floor bathroom. I stepped inside a shower cubicle and locked the door, still breathing hard.

I'm guaranteed to not be disturbed here. I found this place a year ago, virtually unused by students as it was tucked behind a section of wall with no sign to direct people to it. I had never needed to evade bullying..until now. _At least it's still as private as ever._

I touched the power button on my Neuro Linker to power it up. Despite it being an incredibly useful tool for _anything_, I usually kept it on standby, keeping my vision clear of annoying semitransparent windows.

Tapping on the holographic buttons, I scrolled through my extensive files. Most of them were the scanned pages of the textbook, but in arrangement of last modified file order, two folders appeared. The first was « School » , in which I kept all my files pertaining to school and projects. The second was labelled « Vocaloid, Touhou and Stuff » .

Right now, however, I was not interested in music nor the collection of 2D and 3D _danmaku_ games I had. Passing over the folder, I highlighted the newly-scanned physics textbook and tapped with my middle finger to right-click. Three options down, I stopped at « Open in FullDive » and lifted my finger; the cursor blinked twice, and my vision went dark.

Reading has come a long way since the printing press was invented. Thanks to the FullDive abilities of the Neuro Linker, even books can be read and written in a customised virtual space. Right now, I simply sat on a cushion in the default reading environment, resuming where I had left off on the aged textbook.

WHAM.

Something, or someone hit my real body, currently in a state of sleep, and forced me to exit FullDive abruptly. Having been rudely reintroduced to reality, I rubbed my eyes with clenched fists, and looked up at my assailant...wait, what?

This close, I never knew Aomizu Kotori actually had brown rather than black eyes. She was practically face-to-face with me, so close I could feel her quick, hot breathing on my cheeks.

"Ah, sorry for that! Umm, are you okay?" She timidly asked. "I...uh, needed to ask you something.."

Her timid face and expression were outright irritating me now. _You just don't cancel someone's FullDive_, I thought. _It's my private time in the privacy of my mind in the privacy of...of the.._

I don't know why it took so long for it to hit me. Aomizu had just forcibly cancelled my FullDive, and the fact that I was currently in the shower cubicle of the bathroom meant...

"EHHH?!"

After my scream of shock and surprise had finished echoing and Aomizu had lowered her hands from her ears, she continued with her unfinished question.

"Umm...ahh, Ko-Kousaka-san..." Aomizu stammered. "Do you hate reality?"

_Reality? Ge-n-ji-tsu? _I wondered if I had heard her correctly. If this was some shounen manga scene, right now Aomizu would lean in and whisper some nonsensical stuff, like...

"...ah, um...ju-just that, I mean, do you want to escape from reality?"

"What are you saying?" I shot back. "Do you even know where you're coming from? You, sneaking into the boys' bathroom, cracking the cubicle door lock, forcibly cancelling my FullDive, and," I took a breath. "Embarrassing me!"

My voice had risen to a shout, and apparently Aomizu was just about as strong as she was tall. Cupping her ears, she shut her eyes and backed off to a more comfortable distance while I ranted. Kneeling in a corner of the cubicle, she tucked her chin to her knees as my voice echoed around in the small space. As I registered this, the scene struck me as familiar -_ painfully _familiar...

_Kneeling at the end of the alley, her bare skin against stained concrete, freezing rain poured from the skies and mixed with her hot tears-_

A wave of nausea struck me and I stumbled. Leaning against the wall for support, I realised then, that Aomizu was frightened by loud noise. And seeing her in that fetal position was not doing my mind nor my stomach any good, so I reached out in an attempt to comfort her.

"Err...Aomizu-san...?" My hand touched her shoulder, feeling a feminine softness through the thin uniform fabric, and-

WHAP.

Aomizu moved faster than I expected, slapping my hand away and backing into the corner.

"Don't touch me!" She didn't simply say it, she stated it as though it was fact. Recovering herself though, she took several deep breaths, still looking very unlike the timid elementary school student I knew her to be.

"Anyway," she continued. "Some..someone asked me to pass on a message. That is...would you like to escape, and « accelerate » to a new reality?"

If I wasn't confused, then now I was thoroughly confused. What in hell was she talking about?

And yet, some of her words did come across as sincere. Her lack of confidence, stammer, and yet some degree of courage (or should I say, nerve) resonated with something deep within me. To me, it seemed as though she too, had been badly hurt by something in her past, and now only wanted to push it away.

Lowering my voice, I carefully gauged my words. I still had no idea what was she actually talking about.

"W-well then, Aomizu-san," My voice cracked slightly again. "I'll accept this...this offer of yours. But, you have to explain it to me clearly."

Had there been tears in her eyes, or was it just my imagination? Aomizu abruptly broke into a smile of relief. "I knew it..!"

Moving past me, she unlocked the cubicle door in a flash and stepped out into the empty bathroom. After all my shouting, it was some small miracle no one had come up to check. Just as she reached the doorway, she paused.

"Be here tomorrow at break. I...no, we will tell you everything."

_We?_ I was taken aback. _Aomizu has friends whom she would tell about this?_

"And," she uttered softly. "Call me Kotori."

"Yes, Aomizu."

"No, no..just Kotori."

Colour rushed to my cheeks. This really was looking like a bad shounen manga adaptation!

"Well then, goodbye."

With a small swish if her skirt, she left me all alone again.

* * *

Shibuya is one of the busiest parts of Tokyo, with a large number of universities crammed into the rather tiny bit of land. Even though there are also numerous elementary and middle schools, I try to reach home as fast as possible, due to the overwhelming number of university students and lecturers in the area. That means avoiding shops other than Mr Izayoi's bento shop, before finally taking the bus back. Today, however, I walked back home, using the time to ponder the mysterious behaviour of Aomizu Kotori.

Bullying is common is schools; in my first few years in elementary school, I often saw the small, fat, or sometimes absolutely normal kids get picked on for no reason. Usually, the bullying took the form of monetary extortion: the victim would be coerced into paying for his bully's meals via the « Wallet » application for the Neuro Linker. Physical fights and punching was usually done outside of school, when the Social Security Cameras were no longer obligated to monitor their students.

I escaped the bullying at first, because I was of above average height, and my friendly personality used to deter bullies looking for an easy target. Once they had realised I wasn't going to play the same rules as them, I was left alone. Others, like Aomizu, were picked on, but few dared to help them to avoid getting dragged into the fray. Hence, when Aomizu intervened earlier today, it was unexpected for many in the school who bullied or were bullied.

The next question then, was why? Aomizu had nothing to gain from intervention except a bad reputation and making herself a giant target for the bullies. Of course, there was this strange thing she had been talking about: was it some way to « escape » from reality? If so, _how?_ I scoffed.

Even FullDive applications are temporary, and except for browsing the local school network, the regulation is that students cannot use FullDive applications continuously for more than two hours at a stretch, nor can applications « trap » users for more than an hour. After the « Sword Art Online » incident in 2022, no public institution wanted to be seen as promoting FullDive addiction.

Hence, I came to two conclusions as I turned a corner and reached my apartment building complex. One, Aomizu had developed _Chuunibyou_ (Middle School Second Grade Syndrome) early, and didn't know what she was blabbering about. The second was that Aomizu was offering an « underground program » , the type that ran afoul of the regulations for FullDive applications. Between the two, the first was much more likely.

Putting that train of thought on hold as I reached my apartment on the 17th floor, I keyed in the 7-digit passcode via Neuro Linker and unlocked the door. Modern technology had rendered regular lock-and-key systems nearly obsolete.

Entering the apartment, I spotted an alien pair of shoes on the floor, polished black to a bright sheen. A sinking feeling entered my stomach, only made worsened by a deep, baritone male laughter that mixed with the higher, warmer voice of my mother. Dispensing with a greeting, I slid off my shoes and walked in slowly.

My mother was at the sofa, holding a cup of steaming tea with both hands. Across from her, he too had a similar cup in his hands, not wearing his usual suit and tie for once. _Maybe psychiatrists don't wear their suits all the time_, I thought.

Catching sight of me, he called out.

"Ah, welcome home, Kyousuke!"

"I'm home." I replied back in a monotone.

Gesturing with his free hand, he continued as though my deliberate refusal to greet him first was of no issue. "Your mother and I were just discussing about some of the silly things you did when you were younger, why don't you join us?"

_Over my dead body,_ I wanted to retort. Catching myself, however, I said as steadily as I could manage: "I'm going to take a bath first."

"Ah, I insist you sit down. You look tired, it must have been a long day for you?"

_He just doesn't give up, does he?_

"...and apparently even Shino knows some things your mother doesn't!" He chuckled softly, maintaining his attempt to get me to open up. He turned his gaze towards the side door, and as my gaze followed, it opened and a young girl with an asymmetrical ponytail stepped out - Kousaka Shino, my younger 8-year-old sister. Even as I watched, she gracefully walked over to the sofa and sat down, retying her hair - but it was _him: _the psychiatrist Kasugano Ouji, who gestured with his free hand for Shino to sit next to him. Draping his free hand on the sofa behind her, he turned and gave an innocent, perfect smile.

"Welcome home, Kyousuke!" Shino greeted. My eyes darted back and forth around this curious scene: Kasugano looking very much a modern-day father, seemingly with wife and daughter in a happy home. But, there's something odd about it...

"Kyousuke?" My mom, watching me this whole time, frowned in concern. "Kyousuke, is there..something?"

_There._ From the moment Shino had sat down, Kasugano's hand, already uncomfortably close to Shino, was steadliy inching its way towards her shoulder and neck. From my perspective, it looked like..like...

_As though he's going to grab her by the neck. Devour her. Satisfy his hunger again._

_NO! _The very thought of it consumed me in an instant. My left hand clenched and unclenched. I took a step forward.

"Kyousuke, have a seat." He repeated himself again. Our gazes were locked; eyes boring into each other, staring the other down in a contest of superiority, a contest where the loser talks first. Just like all those failed counselling sessions, except that now, I lost it and I lost it _fast_.

Leaping over the coffee table, I grabbed Kasugano by the collar forcefully with my left hand. Clenching my right into a fist, I punched his creeping left hand and forced it back, away from Shino. This close, I could see _everything_: the reflection of my face in his glasses askew, the contracted pupils as his involuntary reflex in fear took over, and the tiny beads of sweat already gathering despite his initial lack of reaction. Time seemed to slow as I hauled him away from Shino-

"Don't," I spat. "Touch Shino!"

"Kyousuke!" My mother cried in alarm. "Calm down!"

"Listen to your mother, Kyousuke-kun," He grasped my left wrist, the hand currently holding a tight grip on his shirt - it was sure to wrinkle. "You aren't like this. You still can talk, can't you? Just calm down, just calm down."

Something warm and wet trickled down my leg. _Piss? I pissed my pants?_

"Kyou..Kyousuke?" Shino piped up, her voice trembling in fear. "Everything is..is okay.."

After what seemed like an eternity, I finally let go. My wrist and arme ached as the lactic acid burned from the weight of an adult man. Wrenching my gaze downwards, I realised it had been his fallen cup of tea that had spilt in the skirmish, darkening my pants and the living room carpet. The adrenaline left my arms and I finally realised how deafeningly silent the room was. No one moved, too afraid to speak.

"I..I'm going to take a bath," I mumbled. Twisting away, I nearly slipped on the tiled floor - my socks were still on. _Screw it,_ I thought. _I'll just remove them in the shower._ Detouring to grab my house clothes, I reached the sanctuary of the bathroom and locked the door, still breathing hard. Hands still shaking and tingling, I clumsily removed my socks and sank to the floor._  
_

_What was that? _I wondered. Except for « that day »..never have I lost control like that. I briefly wondered if that was even my own actions at all.

I touched my Neuro Linker's power button instinctively, and a handful of windows appeared, displaying the time and date, as well as a short list of homework for the day. Letting my hand fall, I resigned myself to the conclusion that I myself had reacted that way to Kasugano's innocent action. I alone had misinterpreted his action. Nobody had forced me, Kousaka Kyousuke, to attack Kasugano like that. Outside, the sounds of clinking glass and hushed voices sounded; probably Kasugano was trying to help clean up and score some points on Mum. _Too bad for him, _I thought. _Mum may be newly divorced but she's not available._

It was 7.29pm. Stripping off my Neuro Linker and uniform, I settled for an ice-cold shower rather than a hot one. The cold water helped calm me down and relieve my fluttering heart. Later on, I completed my assignments and ate leftovers for dinner, but I couldn't remember when I went to sleep, only that I spent the rest of the evening in a daze.

* * *

_The man in the centre advanced menacingly, his body blocking my view of the end of the alley._

_"So..boy..is she your girlfriend? A little early to play, you know..." His hulking shadow was all I saw. Shrinking further back, I bumped into Shino, at the very back of the alley; nowhere to run. Fire crawled up my knees where raw flesh was displayed, a reminder of when I had slipped and fell._

_The dream sharpened, and my heart jumped into fifth gear. I can hear everything: the soft patter of rain, the shifting footsteps of the other two men as they followed, and from behind me, Shino's panicked sobs as her tears hit the floor-_

I woke with a start and nearly cried out in shock and fear.

Fortunately, what greeted my sight next was not « that man's » face, but the white, featureless ceiling of my room. My heart was racing like an engine and my shirt and sheets were soaked with sweat. Turning my head to look at the bedside clock, I received no respite to learn that the time was only 4.45am: after a nightmare like that, there was no going back to sleep for me. I briefly entertained the prospect of swallowing those bitter tablets Mum kept in the fridge, meant to soothe headaches, but it would be useless when the actual pain actually came from my heart. Taking in deep breaths to calm myself, I closed my eyes and tried to not think about the incident which had triggered said nightmare.

_On the other hand,_ I thought. _There's no better time than to get up and move around. No one is gonna bother you at 4.45am._

Swinging my legs out of bed, I staggered towards the door in darkness and quietly inched it open. As expected, darkness blanketed the house save for the blue lights of the refrigerator, dyeing the kitchen in a soft, pleasing glow. I turned my head to make sure the other two doors adjacent to mine were indeed shut: Mum, who was now sleeping alone in the master room, and Shino, who had asked for her own room now ever since that day-

_No. _I shook my head, trying not to think about it.

The floor tiles felt cold to my feet as I walked over and touched a recessed panel in the wall. Soft yellow lights strips along the cabinets and walls lit up, allowing me enough light to see and work by without actually turning on the ceiling light. Opening the refrigerator, my finger lightly traced the egg trays before coming to a stop at an unmarked plastic container. I brought it out and opened it, shutting the door behind me.

Inside, various neatly labelled bottles containing syrups and pills were arranged. I removed one blue-capped bottle and twisted off the top, and downed two pills with a glass of water. Sinking to the floor, I set down the glass and tried to relax. With my ear against the cabinet, I listened to nothing - no sounds being transmitted through the wood, no sound reaching my ears save for my slowing heartbeat. Listening to nothing relaxed me.

[]

I awoke with a start. Sunlight streamed through the windows and I glanced at the clock in alarm. _7.30. Crap. _Springing up, I hurriedly moved to shut off the lights I had unwittingly left on and nearly crushed my now-empty glass underfoot. Bending down to retrieve it, I cursed myself for not having set an alarm. _Wouldn't have taken much effort to put on your Neuro Linker, right?!_

I sloppily rinsed the glass and backed out to get changed. Deciding to bathe in school later, I grabbed my uniform and sprinted to the toilet-

WHAP.

Something hard collided with my chest, and I nearly fell over from the impact.

Still reeling, I bent over to pick up my uniform and froze. Shino, still rubbing her head where we had collided, was eyeing me with the same expression she had last night: a mixture of shock, confusion..and fear.

"Sorrysorrysorry!" I bowed my head and apologised as fast as I could. I really had no time to help her out or anything; instead, I retreated to my room, shut the door, and probably set a record for undressing and dressing.

_Of all the mornings, _I thought as I rushed out of the house, _I screw up before it's even begun._

[]

The bell for break finally sounded. It was only 2.00pm according to my Neuro Linker, but I mashed the power button, set it to standby, and dropped my head to catch five. After skipping breakfast, my stomach had been growling so loudly Mr. Tsubaki had looked round in confusion during Mathematics. At least Ryuuzugano and his gang left me alone today; rumour was going round some kid had confronted them and exchanged words.

Snuggling my eyes in the crook of my arm, I sighed deeply as I pondered whether to properly apologise to Shino, not just for knocking her down, but for my outburst last night. I never wanted to make her scared of me..did I?

Something brushed my shoulder; I shrugged it off as a stray bag strap, a misdirected wave. When it brushed again, and for a third time, it finally clicked in my sleepy, unresponsive brain that someone was trying to get my attention. _Who? _I wondered.

Lifting my head, I blinked several times in the bright afternoon sun, before meeting a rather familiar face.

"Hello, Kyousuke," Aomizu stared down at me. "Um..are you free now?"

"Huh?" was all I could manage.

"Just come with me!" She tugged on my arm with surprising force. With apparently no alternative, I played along and half-walked, half-dragged myself. Following awkwardly behind her, Aomizu reached the stairs - but rather than walk down, she went up - towards the less populated fourth and fifth floors. And on those floors, the only place that one could consider « private » was...

"Aomizu," I stumbled over the steps. "You're bringing me..._there_?!"

"Yes," she replied without looking back. "Someone wants to see you."

She finally let go of me when we reached a disturbingly familiar doorway - the fourth floor boy's bathroom. Curiously, someone _else_ was there as well. I did a double-take, and then scrutinised her - no, _his _face, a face with such an androgynous shape, I only could tell he was a boy because of his uniform's shorts. His hair was a little longer than allowed, but it appeared relatively well-washed. His arms were crossed, and the reason for my double-take, it seemed, was the seemingly disproportionate bulk of his arms to the rest of his body. Not due to baby fat, but that was definitely muscle tone I was seeing.

This mysterious boy must have had ordered Aomizu to bring me here (and by any means, if I might add), because the instant Aomizu released me at last, his dark eyes remain unblinkingly focused on me. Or my eyes, to be precise. His cold, penetrating stare seemed devoid of warmth...or maybe it once had.

As if I had passed some unknown test, the boy finally looked away. I released a breath I hadn't realised I was holding. _What on earth is this, _I wondered. _What's with everything?_

They began to talk while I was thinking. It was about me, I soon realised:

"This is the guy?" the boy asked Aomizu. "Sure?"

_What a truncated way of talking._ This boy either doesn't talk much, or being rude is his specialty. To my slight surprise, Aomizu bowed her head ever so slightly, staring at our shoes.

"Yes, this is Kousaka Kyousuke, the one involved in the « Five-Party Assault Case » reported in the news.

My blood ran cold and I clenched my fists instinctively. _How? _I shouted wordlessly. _How did they know?_

Aomizu rose to face this boy and exchanged glances. This rude, silent, and apparently knowledgeable guy turned to face me again, his eyes a little softer as though seeing me in a new light. I backed off a few steps. Although the thought of running away outright had come to mind, the fact the he remained silent, rather than further probe for details, made me reconsider running away.

"Kousaka...that's a nice name." He finally broke the awkward silence.

"Wh..what do you want?" I finally managed to squeeze out. My heart was throbbing so loudly I was sure he could hear it.

"What I want?" He threw back the words at me. "I'm interested in your reply to Dra- I mean, Kotori's question. Did you accept it or not?"

It took me quite awhile to recall her question. _The day yesterday..Aomizu distracted the trio..then she whacked me in this very bathroom..and then she said something. What was it? Oh right, her offer to escape from reality."_

"Uh..huh. So what's this thing we're talking about?"

"Have you had your Neuro Linker since birth?" Completely ignoring my counter-question, the boy reached into his pocket and withdrew a coil of what seemed to be wire - until he handed it to Aomizu. _Eh? _It was a one-metre XSB cable for « Direct Connection » between Neuro Linkers. Aomizu accepted the cable and uncoiled it, plugging one end into her silver-coloured Neuro Linker's port.

"Have you?" He asked more insistently.

"Y-Yes!"

"Good." A shadow of a grin crossed his face for an instant, tugging at his lips, and then it was gone.

"To answer your question," he continued nonchalantly, "It's a simple Neuro Linker «application», which Kotori will send to you via Wired Connection."

Somehow, I had a bad feeling about this. Setting aside the disregard for privacy between Neuro Linker owners, some small part of me was wary about this «application»_._

"The application can only be installed once." He transfixed me with that cold stare again, rooting me to the spot. Aomizu plugged in the other end into my Neuro Linker, but I was still too numb to resist. The warning window accompanying the « Direct Connection » appeared, then faded away.

"This application will change you. It could heal you or it could break you. Your mind will definitely change. But maybe, most important of all..." his voice trailed off. Frozen as I was, I still noticed his arms coming together, encircling himself as though his body itself was about to break. The fragility of this image..something about it connected to me deeply.

"...for the lack of better words, you will understand yourself better." He finally finished, looking as though he had just woken from a deep sleep. "Give it to him, Kotori."

Aomizu deftly manipulated her Linker's interface. Of course, I can't see her windows, but I could tell she was opening her own folders, scrolling through dozens of items. Finally she double-tapped the empty air and pointed her fingers at me, initiating a file transfer.

In my window, a terse dialog box appeared.

File Transfer Security Message

Accept unknown application: ?

The program's publisher cannot be verified. It is recommended you do not install such programs.

I glanced at the window, and back to the guy. A faint smile was on his lips now, but i couldn't detect any hint of maliciousness.

One last absurd question made its way to my mouth, fighting through the crushing weight of feelings I was presently holding at bay. "Will this..this application, will it piece me back together?"

I regretted the odd choice of words, but this guy's expression didn't change the slightest. He only closed his eyes, as though mulling something within him over.

"I don't know. It's a question only you can answer."

_Which means it can if I try._ I finished the thought. If anything...I think I'm broken enough already. It's taking a superhuman effort to keep from breaking down now.

Slowly, I reached up with my left hand and touched the button.

Application Installing...

Commencing.

Without warning, the school suddenly burst into flames, nearly making me cry out in shock. When Aomizu and this guy remain unperturbed, however, I realised they were merely holographic projections.

"You can see the flames too?" Aomizu, silent this entire time, suddenly piped up.

"Wha...what's with the flames?" My mouth was dry, and not because I was thirsty.

"A simple test to determine the brain's response times." The boy spoke quietly. He was still staring at me, minus the smile and reverting to his cold, businesslike demeanor. "Only those with fast enough response times can accept the application. If you don't see the flames, the installation fails."

The flames disappeared as though satisfied with their attempt to shock me. They retreated into a cuboidal shape, and then even those faded out. Left behind was...

"Bu..rei..Brain Baasuto?" I lamely tried to pronounce the english letters.

"Brain Burst," The guy responded. "That is the name of the application. Those who use it are called 'Burst Linkers'."

"Why?" was all I could weakly get out.

"You'll see." This time, Aomizu responded, as though I was being double-teamed.

The installer bar left behind filled swiftly, and more flames appeared, consuming the entire bar and the words. For a second, I thought the installation had still somehow failed, that I was no longer needed by this boy and Aomizu to do anything, if they had wanted to. _Come to think of it, _I thought, and glanced at the time. _I haven't even eaten yet._

"Kyousuke," Aomizu piped up. "I can hear you, you know? While connecting their Neuro Linkers, users can speak via « Direct Connection Speech »."

I was about to react, to respond in indignation angrily, but more flames appeared, forming letters in my vision.

"Waru..Welcome To Za...The Accelerated World? What's this?" My voice quavered , half in fear and half in confusion.

The boy and Aomizu simultaneously let out sighs of relief.

"It means, Kyousuke, that you're now one of us." The guy whose name I still didn't know replied, unfolding his arms and putting his hands in his pockets. "You're now a « Burst Linker »."

"Kyousuke." Aomizu corrected the girl. "His name is Kousaka Kyousuke."

This guy raised an eyebrow, then lowered it. "Okay then."

"What..what am I supposed to do now?" Finally, I had achieved some semblance of calm by speaking normally.

"Go home," Aomizu simply said. "After school, go home. But keep off the Global Net, and don't remove your Neuro Linker. Even when you sleep."

"That's kinda uncomfortable.."

"But the installation hasn't finished." The unnamed boy cut me off. "Keep it on."

I raised my hands weakly in surrender.

[]

The two of them left after that. Aomizu returned to class after break, but she didn't say anything else to me. Neither did I see the unnamed guy after that, nor did I even try to ask Aomizu anything else. I was just too tired and stressed to think about anything else, and school as it was is more than I can handle in that fragile mental state. The rest of the day passed in a flash, and even when I got home, I didn't even want to read my physics book; I just hit the shower, crashed and fell asleep early at 8.37pm.

The worst nightmare of my life soon followed.

**end of chapter 1.**

* * *

Author's notes:

Longer than I expected and shorter than I wanted. Between writing, editing, and planning, I took way more time than I wanted to. I couldn't write very much because I usually wrote on my phone, and work usually left me drained the rest of the day. A good thousand, thousand-two-hundred of the last part was actually written in a two-hour burst of energy I just had earlier.

This is a complete revamp of my very first fanfic which I've since deleted, because it had more holes in it than swiss cheese.

I hope to continue to post good, plot-filled chapters like these, so please review and comment! PM me if you're too embarassed to! :P

Follow the story for more updates! Favourite it if you like it, of course. (:

Edit: [10-1-13] Fixed typos, grammar, and awkward phrases

Edit: [13-1-13] What a nice date, lol. The identity of this nameless guy is a little ambiguous so I added some detail to nudge it over to something more concrete. Rest assured, I don't feel like creating many OCs to deal with, so many of the characters that appear subsequently are almost always canon characters. The relationships they have with each other, however, has a small probability of being non-canon. If by some miracle Kawahara Reki decides to expand on Volume 7, I'll edit this to include the AU tag.

Edit: [24-1-13] Altered the naming of all characters. Courtesy of advice from Catsy.


	2. Jacks In The Box

**Jacks In The Box**

* * *

_"Last night, you had a very long and scary dream, right? That's caused by the program accessing your deepest memories. Brain Burst compiles and edits the owner's desires, fears, and obsessions, creating the duel avatar...What the program reads and uses, are not your ideals, but your inferiority complex."_

_-Kuroyukihime, «Duel Avatar Creation Process»_

* * *

_"This is Nishiazabu Station. Mind the gap and have a pleasant evening."_

_I stepped off the train and broke into a dead run. Pushing past a few adults in my way, I skipped the escalators and made a beeline for the stairs, jumping down five or six steps at a time. My knees and feet protested with every jump, but I ignored the pain and just kept running._

_[Take a left turn. Head for the station gate. The Neuro Linker 's « Wallet » application will automatically pay the fare as you cross. Keep running.]_

_I exited the train station and spotted a bus - my bus, the one that would usually take me to school in the morning, but it was too late. It was already pulling out of the stop._

_[Forget waiting for the bus. Keep running, run along the road if you have to. The cars with their « Safety System » will slow accordingly.]_

_My chest burned. Heaving my chest, I pushed down with all my might with my right leg. Left. Right. Left. Taking huge strides to speed up._

_[I have to get to her. Neuro Linker calls don't cut off by themselves.]_

_My lungs ached for oxygen. My calfs were scorching hot, lactic acid sizzling in my very veins._

Wait.

How did I get here again?

_[I am running from the train station. I need to pick Shino up urgently-]_

That doesn't explain it. Why am I here? Why am I in town, running like a mad man?

_[...something unknown has happened. I fear for the worst.]_

Where is this again? I thought...I thought I'm sleeping. I had a tiring day.

_[I need to run faster! It's been five minutes since the call was cut off, it can happen only when someone physically removes the Neuro Linker!]_

No, I was sleeping. This means...this means I'm..

Frag. I'm dreaming of the worst day in my life.

_[Run past the Home For The Elderly. Run to the main gate. Now!]_

No! I don't want to finish this dream again!

_[Scan the crowd and look for her. Shino forgot her hairband today, it's likely her hair will be down. She would wait at the school office if nothing else is wrong.]_

Stop it! Wake up, Kousaka Kyousuke, you lazy ass, wake up now!

But the dream rolls on mercilessly. It's even speeding up, like how one fast-forwards a video clip to get past the boring part. From my perspective as an observer in the dream, I watched helplessly as the dream shifted focus and blurred, skimming over the scene of me desperately scanning the immediate surroundings for a familiar dark green backpack.

_I don't want to see, _I pleaded. _I don't want to have to relive that day!_

If Morpheus really existed, apparently he had his own agenda. The dream finally froze at the point where I finally rested my gaze on a green backpack - upside down and sporting a handful of scuff marks on its side. Its owner was nowhere to be found. My heart was beating as though a hammer was pounding at it from the inside.

A high scream split the air and my chest. The perspective suddenly tilts: one of my legs had given way.

_[That voice..is hers! I must save Shino!]_

I looked on the dream's perspective, powerless to act, as the perspective leapt forward and rounded a corner.

_The alleyway was dark: the high buildings that formed it cast the place in shadow. No familiar black half-spheres could be seen - this was a blind spot in the « Social Security Camera » network. Three men stood with their back to me, wearing jeans and identical black jackets. The man in the middle held what seemed to be a bundle of clothes in his hand.._

_[That is..that is..Shino's uniform! Run!]_

_So I ran._

_Recklessly, I charged the men, screaming something I couldn't remember. Three metres away from them, I slipped on a discarded bottle and my foot goes awry, sending me crashing to the floor in an unceremonious heap, skidding to their feet. Between their legs, she was squatting with her side to me, her hand tightly clamping her skirt to her legs. Her hair is messy and looks like it was pulled._

_"Shi..Shino?" I croaked._

_Only sobs answer me. I want to raise my hand, but my knees and elbows are burning. I can't move._

_Someone grabs me roughly by my bag. Ripping it off, a blurry streak crosses my vision - then the shoe buries itself in my side, knocking me to the wall as well. All the air in my lungs is expelled and I can't tell if I'm gasping for air or because of the pain._

_"Ah, who's this? A knight in shining armour? A..ah, uh, what's the word?"_

_"Hero, you lousy bastard. It's Eiyuu, or hero, HI-RO."_

_"Go back to school you uneducated frag. Oh, I'm sorry," Another kick against my chest, less painful with the side of his shoe. "That applied to you too."_

_Their rough voices penetrate through the haze of pain. I wiggle my foot, testing it. It seems okay, nothing twisted._

_"So then...stupid boy." One pair of shoes step forward in front of me. "Is she your girlfriend? Your pet? A little early to play, or you don't take good care of your pets, ya'know..."_

_Somehow I manage to get up into a sitting position. Crawling backwards, I try to put as much space between me and him, but I hit the wall - the end of the alley. So I crab-walk left, feeling her bare back against my arm. It's started to rain and it's cold. I look up, mustering my will to look them in the eyes in defiance, and-_

This is different.

Were the men so tall, standing three times my height? I don't think their faces were this twisted either, their proportions horribly emphasised like a street caricature's drawing come to life. It's terrifying, supreme, and arrogant all at the same time. I cower, wherever I am in this dream, because it's still as frightening to me despite it being a week old. The level of detail is so realistic, they might have just invaded my dreams for _real._

_"Got nothing to say?" He mockingly adopted a friendly tone. "Then..."_

_He turned to his two pals just behind him. "Finish him off and fast. I'm hungry, and not for cold soba."_

_[I MUST PROTECT SHINO-!]_

This thought repeatedly echoes through my mind. My emotions and this dream are perfectly synchronised in every emotional aspect, bouncing this single thought around until it becomes crystal clear.

_I scan the rubbish-strewn alley for something, anything. Anything I can use as a weapon. Anything I can use as a shield. My eyes fall on a dustcan lid, the ones made from steel like in the previous century. I don't care why it's there. I only care that it's a weapon. A shield. Both._

Has the lid ever shone this brightly in my previous nightmares?

_I scramble over to retrieve the lid as fast as I can, missing a carelessly aimed kick in the process. Grasping it by the handle, I stagger - it's heavy and unwieldy. But it must suffice. I stand on protesting legs and hold it in my right hand, placing Shino behind me. It's raining harder now and I'm shivering._

_Their eyes widen as though they've never seen anyone respond like that. One of them bursts into laughter._

_"Hey, kid...are you some otaku who's watched too much anime, or have you no balls? Hahaha!"_

_"Screw the girl. I wanna train my boxing now." The second one rolls up his wet sleeves, and launches._

The dream is getting blurry again. Adrenaline is both helping me and killing me - I'm watching this cruel reenactment of this brutal assault and battery in first-person view with no escape. Every punch, scratch and kick hurts me as much as it did. I don't just see the perspective - I feel every cut, slice, and scrape against my skin. Somehow, Shino is still unscathed despite the fighting just in front of her. Blood slicks my arm and I can't tell, not even in my dream, whose blood is it.

_I'm trapped. Twisted into an arm-lock, face down on the ground._

_I strain against the hand holding down my face, until with one eye I can still barely see. One of them is undoing his belt now, his hand greedily reaching out for the defenseless girl before him-_

_"NO!" I scream, fighting to escape. "I- MUST- PROTECT- SHINO-"_

**IS THAT YOUR WISH?**

Words suddenly invade the perspective, appearing as characters written in bloody slashes. What was it that wrote that? The perspective snaps to black.

"NOOO!"

I thrashed about, trying to escape the arm-lock, kicking wildly, trying anything to escape my captor - until it registered in my head that this sensation on my fingers isn't the rain-slicked dirt floor of the alley, but fabric. I panicked and twisted violently, falling out of my bed and hitting the floor hard. Finally the offending _thing_ is free of me and I backed away, as fast and far as I can, until I slammed my head into the wall.

My shirt is completely soaked in a cold sweat. I struggled with the buttons, undoing two buttons with shaky fingers before tearing the damp shirt off. Curling into a ball, I just let the tears flow, with no will at all to even try to clean up.

It feels like an eternity before I run out of tears to cry, but I'm still shaking. Never, _never_ have the nightmares been this terrifying, or rendered in such horrifying detail. I become aware that my Neuro Linker is still on my neck - worn to sleep for some reason I can't think of. _Is it the cause of my dreams?_ I wrenched the damned thing off and toss it into a distant corner with a conspicuous _thump._

The doorknob creaks slightly, then turns and a sliver of light penetrates the darkness of the room. I know someone is now at the door, wondering what all my screaming and crying was about, but is too afraid to come in.

_Maybe that's Shino,_ I suddenly realise. _Is she okay?_

Without a second thought I spring up and yank the door open, revealing the small figure in pajamas with her hair down, holding her hands to her chest as though to steel herself. _Shino is here! _I repeat to myself. _She's safe and well...that's all I need._

Shino is still staring at me, at a loss for words upon seeing me shirtless and my tear-stained face, but I don't wait to move first. Before I've even processed the thought, I throw my arms around her and hug her head to my shoulder, leaking more tears out of relief this time. I can't think - all I know is that I'm crying and I'm hugging my sister at some ungodly time at night.

I finally ran out of tears after a good five minutes, Shino having reciprocated the hug all this time. I reluctantly let go of her just as she steps back as well, and now I know, I can't keep it a secret that I still have nightmares anymore.

"Was that a nightmare, Kyousuke?"

If I can, I'd rather not say it openly, so I just bow my head and hope Shino understands.

"Who was it about?"

The question catches me off guard; like dreams, I usually forget the details of my nightmares within a few minutes, though the lingering fear and terror usually remains. But this time..I rack my brains, but I can only remember a little bit..what was I doing?

"Umm..I can't remember," I stutter and halt over a few words. "But I think maybe it was about you."

In the darkness, I can't make out Shino's face. But evidently she's curious, having tilted her head to one side as though waiting for more details. Rather than describe the dream to her, though, I tell a white lie: I refer to my previous night's nightmare instead._  
_

"It was..it was about you, Shino. I mean...« that day »."

"« That day »? Kyousuke? What is that day?"

_Shino doesn't remember?!_

"I mean," she takes a step forward to me. "That day wasn't bad, right? It wasn't bad..it wasn't.."

Shino started to lose it; with each word, she's becoming more incoherent and sniffing sounds can be heard - she's trying to hold back tears. Stepping forward, I wrap her in in another hug and I can feel her shaking. It's now my turn to hold her, and she feels awfully small.

_When was the last time we hugged like this?_ I briefly wonder. I move my hand up to the back of her head and I feel something wet on my shoulder.

Over her shoulder, I glance at the clock: 3.57am.

"Eh..Shino? I break the hug and try to shake some sense into her. "Shino..maybe you should go back to sleep?"

She doesn't respond and her head instead leans on mine in a surprising dead weight, and I realise she just cried herself to sleep.

_Maybe I'm the opposite instead,_ I think for a second, _because I wake up in tears.__  
_

Carefully, I half-carry, half-drag Shino back to her room; she weighs nearly as much as me even though I'm taller. I cover her with the blanket and make to close her door as quietly as possible, when I hear rustling and know it's her turning in her sleep. Peeking through the door, I silently watch as the tiny girl wraps her blanket around her a little tighter, and only when she stops moving then do I shut the door.

* * *

WHAP.

"Kousaka, you may choose to sleep during your lunch break, but not during my class!"

Sleepily, I raise my head from the desk. Mr. Tsubaki was right: there's only five minutes to break, and yet he's glaring at me as though his lesson just started. Groggily, I raise myself into a passable sitting position and try to tune out the snickers from the back; clearly Ryuuzugano and his underlings were laughing themselves wet at the scene.

Trying to avoid moving my head as much as possible, I glance at the active window showing Mr. Tsubaki's lesson, when I make eye contact with Aomizu. She's peering at me from her seat in the front, her dark brown eyes looking at me with...what? Was that curiosity, or pity that I saw? The physical pressure she seemed to exert compelled me to look away before it got too awkward.

I briefly think back to the events on this early morning. I dimly remember having a hell of a nightmare, then having to put Shino back to bed because I woke her. Somehow I still managed to wake up in time for school, or grab my discarded Neuro Linker and stuff it into my bag. At least I wouldn't miss out on lessons too much - in the past I had forgotten to wear it to school and missed out on an entire day's assignments.

Before my sleepy mind can process it, the five minutes have elapsed and Mr. Tsubaki's voice is cut off by the lunch bell. He vainly tried to restrain us with some homework announcements but in the end gives up and sent it to us via the school network.

I'm nodding off when I spotted Aomizu making her way through the class over to me, bringing back to mind the strange events of yesterday: Aomizu and some strange guy, Direct Cabling with me to give me some weird application. Aomizu reached my desk, and without warning, tugged on my sleeve.

"Kyousuke..come with me again."

"Eh? Why?"

"Just come! He wants to see you again!"

Our little exchange has not gone unnoticed; Ryuuzugano is practically feasting his eyes on this apparently scandalous sight of Aomizu just about pulling me out of my chair now. He saunters up, Akajime and Arakaya in tow, and my stomach sinks.

"Hey, hey hey...Little Bird, where would you be dragging Kousaka off to?" A huge smirk is on his face now; Ryuuzugano has smelt a great chance and he isn't going to let go of it. Aomizu flushes in embarrassment at the hint and the play on her name, but her shifting expression is doing nothing to deter him. Far from it.

"So then..." He gleefully rubbed his hands together. "What shall we do with this young pair? Or I mean, this young couple?"

My mouth has just opened and a curse is on my tongue when a timely interruption saves us:

"Ryuuzugano! I warned you yesterday!"

All of us turn to see the nameless boy from yesterday in the doorway of the classroom. In the bright afternoon sun, I can see more details now; his dirty brown hair pointed this way and that, as though aiming to achieve the look of a manga protagonist. He rolled up his sleeves, visually confirming his arms were more muscular than expected of a ten-year-old.

Surprisingly, the mere sight of this guy was enough incentive for Ryuuzugano to back off. Taking a step back, he tried to stand his ground and sneered unkindly at the three of us.

"Why why, Aomizu, have you got flowers in both hands now? This is bad, schoolchildren should be studying, ya' know?"

Somehow I find my voice and force it out.

"As if you actually study, Ryuuzugano."

At this, he finally concedes that it isn't worth staying to heckle us. Mousing his way through the desks, he shoots a final uneasy glance at the unnamed boy, who returned it with a cold stare. This boy then turned back to me and Aomizu as if the staredown had never happened.

"Well then, Aomizu, let's go somewhere quieter."

"Yes, Pound."

_Pound?_

"Eh...um, Pound?" I pipe up in curiosity. "Is that your name?"

_"Pound" can't be a real name, is it? Is it a nickname, then? _This 'Pound' guy shifted his focus to me.

"Technically speaking, no." He stated in a voice devoid of warmth. "But for now...yes, I am referred to as Iron Pound."

"Is..is that a nickname?"

"Yes," He thinks for a second. "And no. It's a stage name; I'll explain later."

_Always to the point, is he?_ Aomizu turned and followed Pound out of the classroom. With no other choice apparently available, I slowly get up and follow them.

[]

It doesn't really surprise me that we're back at the fourth-floor boys' bathroom again, though the idea of Aomizu following Pound _into _the bathroom is scandalous enough to jumpstart my heart. I linger outside the doorway as though waiting for permission to enter.

"Well, come on in," Pound's voice echoed. "I want to finish in time for lunch."

Reluctantly, I step into the darkened bathroom. As my eyes adjust, I can make out Aomizu and Pound sitting on the floor side by side, though not close enough to warrant familiarity. Pound simply watches me silently as I dust off a small patch of tiled floor and sit down gingerly.

"Now then," he spoke more quietly now. "You..Kyousuke, did you have a bad dream last night?"

Instantly, Pound has earned my full attention. I curl my hands into fists reflexively, remembering flashes of the nightmares..this morning's events..and my previous meeting with Pound. _It's a simple Neuro Linker « application »...This application will change you, he had said._

Noticing my silence and icy stare, Pound averted his eyes briefly before continuing.

"Do you play games often?"

"Some, I guess. Touhou _danmaku_ in my spare time."

"What about those at game centres? Especially « two-player fighting » games?"

"Eh?"

"Senpai," Aomizu interrupted. "Maybe we should just show him."

Pound thought for a moment, then nodded, a slight tilt of his head by a couple of degrees.

"Very well then..I guess we all do want to eat. Alright, Kyousuke, the « application » I asked Kotori to send you yesterday is activated by a voice command. Are you connected to the school network?"

I briefly confirm my Neuro Linker is active; pressing the first and second fingers of my left hand together, I make a swipe-down motion, the custom action I set to « restore all windows ». With a _swish_ sound effect, several stray windows reappear in my vision.

"Yeah, it is."

"On a count of three, repeat after me these two words." Pound draws a gesture in the air and sends me a text note with two words on it: **BURST LINK****.**

"Burs-"

"Not now!" He cut me off. "Count down."

_Why is he so serious? Is it like some secret cheat code?_

"On three." Pound glances at Aomizu and she nods in acknowledgement.

"Three..two..one..BURST LINK!" we chorused.

The world instantly shifts and turns electric blue.

[]

"Wha..what is this?" I choked.

From what I can see, it seems to be a virtual environment - not any environment, but the very bathroom that me, Aomizu, and Pound were sitting in. However, the entire space is tinted blue, and when I look down, I realise I'm using my « net avatar ».

Looking up, the net avatars of Aomizu and Pound are present as well: Aomizu's avatar has the appearance of a shrine maiden, while Pound has a stage mask over his eyes, but his hands are now wearing boxing gloves. He's even wearing what I presume to be the belt boxers wear.

"So...this application just recreated the space?" I lamely stated.

"Yes, it is. The environment is captured by the « Social Security Cameras », but rendered into an environment by Brain Burst." Pound explained patiently.

"In your menu, you can see a new icon, right? Click on it."

Flicking my fingers to bring down the menu, Pound is correct: there's a mysterious square icon in the menu, marked with the english letter "B". Tapping it, an additional menu with 6 options is brought up with a sound effect, reminding me of clinking chains.

**STATUS MATCHING OPTION STORAGE POINT LEGION**

"Eh..what's all these?"

"They'll be more important later. First, click on 'Matching'."

More clinking chains. The drop-down list then displayed three names in unfamiliar English letters:

**TURQUOISE PROTECTOR**

**IRON POUND**

**MAGNESIUM DRAKE**

"Now, click on my name, Iron Pound. Accept the request to duel me."

"Eh?! Duel?" Pound's physique, avatar, and even his name is ringing warning bells at me.

"We'll just have a timeout draw to demonstrate the game."

_Game? Brain Burst, my nightmare, everything is a game?_

A button falls from the top with the word "**DUEL**" on it after I press Pound's name. I sneak a glance at Aomizu who has been silent this whole time, but her avatar betrays no emotion. She stares back at me with blank eyes.

I muster my courage and tap the button.

[]

_It's cloudy..and dark._

The environment had been disassembled, then reassembled before my very eyes. Pound and Aomizu had vanished and they were nowhere to be seen.

Looking around, I realised I was outside the school building, but..it was covered in snow. Looking all around, snow was falling lightly as well, inducing a shiver reflexively.

"Ah, the « Snowy Mountain » stage, not bad."

Whirling around to see the source of the voice, my foot made a distinctive metallic grinding noise against the packed snow and distracted me. I looked down at my foot, and-

_This is not my foot!_

My net avatar wore socks because I really like the idea of having my feet protected, a habit that I carried over from real life. However, this..._this _avatar wasn't wearing socks. Instead, a foot wrapped in a bluish-coloured metal greeted my sight. I wiggled my toes and this alien foot responded as well, confirming this was indeed the avatar I was now controlling.

I looked up and down at my body, and my first impression was that my new avatar resembled that of an armoured robot, though with distinctively organic curves and surfaces. My body was all covered in the same blue-green platings on my feet, but underneath I could see matte-black mesh that gave off the impression of an underlayer. The backs of my hands and forearms were the same, though a light blue jewel was fixed to the outside of my elbows, sparkling from within. My knees too had this jewel fixed on them, giving off the rather embarrassing impression of a model figurine.**  
**

Having passed the initial shock, I now looked up, expecting to see Pound and whatever avatar he was using now. True to his net avatar, he still resembled a boxer more than anything; instead of hands, his fists were curled up and fixed in the shape of boxing gloves. Grey metal plates covered the rest of his avatar, segmented in various places. His helmet, though, gave off the feeling of an unearthly being with that space where his eyes should be. Two white motes of lights, which I took to be his eyes, stared at me. I find myself staring up - this avatar, Iron Pound, is a full head taller than me.

"In the corner of your vision, you can see the HP gauges with our names, right? In the middle is a timer showing how long more we have to duel."

_Eh?_ Checking, I realised Pound was indeed describing this..this interface to me. The timer in the middle showed the numbers [1707] and counted down, so I supposed when it hit zero, the duel, as Pound put it, would end.

To the left of that, a bright blue bar shone, and below it were the same English letters spelling out a name: **TURQUOISE PROTECTOR**.

"Tur..Turquoise Protector?" I struggle to pronounce the name. _Why do I have to learn English in a game?!_

"Yes, that appears to be your duel avatar. I wanted to ask you about your nightmare earlier, but now, it seems unnecessary."

Gesturing with his arm, Pound continued to explain patiently to me. He sounded like the psychiatrist at times, but his voice had an additional quality to it that surpassed Kasugano by several orders of magnitude. To me, it seemed as though Pound was explaining something new to a child. Maybe that was why Aomizu calls him _senpai_.

"This avatar we all have is made for fighting," he shook his hand/boxing glove for emphasis. "It is a direct result of Brain Burst accessing your deepest dreams, fears, and desires, which resulted in your nightmare last night.

_So the application really was responsible for the whole damn thing! _I don't say it out though, and keep listening to what Pound has to say.

"Whatever was gleaned from that nightmare, has since been chopped, mixed, and stirred into this..this Turquoise body of yours. Really rare, if I must admit."

"Rare? What part of me is rare?" I hold up my hands in the universal don't-understand gesture.

"The thing is..." Pound trails off for a second to think. I glance around momentarily, looking for Aomizu. Where did she go?

"...all Burst Linkers' duel avatars have two parts to their name," Pound finally spoke. "The first word is a colour name, like Green, Red, Pink, the likes. Or, they're like me, a metal colour."

I glance at the other name underneath the HP bars: **IRON POUND.** Looking at his head, hands, and back down at his avatar's armour, he really was entirely covered in the metallic grey of iron, save for several dark blue streaks at his joints.

"The abilities of your avatar are usually represented by the second word in your name. Mine, is Pound, and it's quite clear I'm a boxer; I _pound _my opponents into submission."

"Your colour is Turquoise," He points at me again. "Turquoise is equal parts of pure blue and pure green, each having its own unique attribute. It's hard to find someone who can have both colours in such high saturation.."

"Hold it, hold it," I hold my hands in front to stop him. "You lost me back there: what are colour attributes?"

Pound sighed heavily as though I had just interrupted his victory speech. He makes a few gestures in the air, apparently manipulating some window options. A large window suddenly appeared between us, and he flipped it around to show me: a large colour wheel dominates the window, and below is another bar shining brightly. The colour wheel is marked with glittering red pins on some shades of colours.

"This wheel shows the colours of most Burst Linkers," he pointed clumsily with his glove. The primary colours here are Red, Blue, and Yellow."

"Different colours of Burst Linkers have different ability sets. The Reds, up here, specialise in « Long-Range Combat ». They typically have guns, rockets, missiles, the likes."

"Down here, Blue avatars are more « Close-Quarter Combat », or simply CQC. They usually are armed with swords, and alot of them are _kendokas_, if I might add."

"Here, Yellow colours are oriented towards « Indirect/Illusion » attacks. They come in all sorts and I'd rather not explain now."

"There are obviously secondary colours, shown here as Orange, Green, and Purple. Nobody has seen a pure orange avatar yet, so I'll leave it as that. Green is yellow and blue, but when CQC and indirect come together, they've typically got great defense." He paused, and then continued:

"Later, I might get you to meet one of the strongest Linkers here, the Invulnerable Green Grande, and see what he can do about you..."

"Just explain the colours to me first," I cut him off for the second time. "Secondary colours; what's the attributes for purple?"

"Purple Linkers specialise in mid-range combat," he growls with a dangerous glint in his eyes. _Guess I better not interrupt this guy a third time._

"Usually they've got lightning attacks, but I fought one Linker the other day who was using whips...ugh, painful." He shudders slightly.

"Then, what kind of colour is Iron?"

"Iron, Magnesium, and the likes are under metal colours. This chart here," he points at the multicoloured chart below the wheel, "Shows metal colours. The most precious metals, like Gold, Silver, and Iridium are all on one end, while common metals like Iron, Steel, and Copper, are all on the right end. That's because," he added, catching my confused expression, "Each end increasingly specialises in a particular type of defense. Iron and metal colours on the right are resistant to physical blows and blunt strikes, and the precious metals on the left are immune to all the other 'special' attacks, so to say. By special attacks, I mean cutting, piercing, poison, acid, the whole gamut."

Now, he turns and faces me fully. "But back to the original question. Your colour is turquoise, a tricky blend of Blue and Green. It's too blue to be called Sea Green, but too green to be called Cyan. Your avatar is pulling off quite the balancing act. The high saturation of the colour indicates you should share the CQC and high defense attributes found by both Blue and Green."

"In other words, I'm rare because you can't find colours like mine, or because my colour is highly..highly.." I struggle with the word.

"Saturated." Pound finishes. "Yes, that's the thing. It's about as pure a colour as the primary and secondary colours. Which suggests..." he trails off, looking my avatar from head to toe. In my vision, the timer passes 800 seconds.

"Say," Pound suddenly speaks. "What moves do you have?"

"Moves?"

"Attacks, namely." He states matter-of-factly. "Click on your name below the HP gauge, that should bring up your move list. If your colour is anything to go by.."

I can't quite catch his next few words because Pound is practically mumbling to himself. So I tap on my avatar name, and with a soft _ping_ sound, a holographic window appears with words and diagrams on it. At least, it's in Japanese rather than English, so it's readable.

The window is split into two sections: « Normal Moves » and « Special Move ». Under each heading, there's a simple looped animation of a humanoid figure moving, the title of the move, and a few lines of text:

**Normal Move « Jump »**

Bend your legs a minimum of 90 degrees and kick off. Angle of takeoff depends on body.

**Normal Move « Elbow »**

Jab with left or right elbow.

**Normal Move ****« Knee »**

Jab with left or right knee.

**Special Move ****« Hug »**

Wrap arms around another Duel Avatar. Consumes 20% of Special Gauge.

"Eh..." A sigh of exasperation escaped my virtual mouth.

"Well? What have you got?" Pound is looking at me with surprising enthusiasm. _Has he expected too much of me?_

"Umm..I..gah. How do I make this visible to you?"

"The upper right corner, there's a wrapped arrow icon."

I touch the icon and the window duplicates, appearing in front of Pound. As he reads, his eyes narrow, and I bet he's frowning underneath all that iron armour.

"...That's all? There should be more, I think."

Apparently both of us share the opinion that this « Rare-Coloured Burst Linker » should have more abilities than merely jumping, jabbing, and..hugging? _Seriously, what kind of game has me hugging others?!_

For the entire time, as I failed to observe before, the previously unseen Aomizu suddenly appeared next to us with a loud _clang_.

"Gah! Aomizu! You scared us..I mean, me." I stutter.

"What's so scary?" She innocently asks.

"Nu..uh, never mind." I'm too busy taking in her duel avatar. More than anything, it looks like the dress of a shrine maiden, but..were those horns just hair, or were they from a _dragon_?

"Yes, this is my duel avatar," she chirped innocently. "The name of my avatar is Magnesium Drake."

"Oh..oh okay. Eh, where were you all this time?"

"Didn't Pound explain to you? Besides the « Duelling Combatants », there are also « Spectators ». You can watch a fight if it occurs on the same network as you're connected to, or the Burst Linker you're following gets into duels!"

She points at Pound, presently deep in thought. "So for him, I followed Pound because he's my senior in Brain Burst, so when you duelled him, I « Accelerate » as well and watch you two trade blows! At least, that's what I expected..."

The 'horns' on her head droop slightly, achieving the feat of looking cute and menacing at the same time.

"Eh, you said one word earlier, what was it again?"

"Was it « Accelerate »?"

"Yes! What do you mean?"

Aomizu raps Pound on his shoulder; her avatar is too short to reach his head. "Pound, did you skip the part about « Burst Points » again?"

"Cut it out, I'm trying to think. Yeah, I forgot."

The little shrine maiden avatar gave a huff of disappointment. "Basically, Kyousuke, remember the blue colour of the bathroom environment earlier? That, and this field, they are both part of the « Accelerated World »."

"Okay..that I can understand. So?"

"So, entering the « Accelerated World » isn't free! You need to pay using « Burst Points »!"

"Burst- what?"

"Burst Points." Aomizu painstakingly accented the foreign word. "You started out with one hundred points; check your status window!"

I tap on my name again, and there's the option **« Point » **below. Tapping that revealed a large, stylised number **'99'.**

"Eh? It shows 99 points.."

"That's because you « Accelerated » once. Each « Acceleration » consumes one « Burst Point ».

"You win points by winning duels, and you lose points by, well, losing duels. Pound here is a level 4 Burst Linker, so if you win this duel, you'd earn...40 points? But he would win only 10 points by duelling you."

"And by winning duels..I must reduce his HP to zero?" _What a confusing game!_

"Yup."

So that's what this game is about. You fight to get points to « Accelerate », or use this game, Brain Burst.

"Eh, then what happens if I lose all my points?"

At this, Aomizu trembles slightly, and her voice is less cheerful than it sounded just now.

"When you lose your points..Brain Burst will be uninstalled."

_That's all? Doesn't seem like a big deal to me._

Pound finally snaps out of his stupor and checked the timer. "30 seconds left...I guess we'll stop here."

He looks at me rather pointedly. "If my hunch is correct..you're holding something, an « Enhanced Armament », and within that is your true strength, Protector. There's no other explanation."

"Enhanced Arma- what?" _And why does he call me by the avatar name now?_

"Later," he cut me off this time. "It's time for lunch, I'll explain it then."

That's when it hits me that we've spent more than a thousand seconds talking, according to the timer. 1800 seconds, to be exact. Just as I look back up, the timer hits zero, and this « Accelerated World » fades from view. A results screen appears with a huge word **[DRAW] **in the same stylised font, but I ignore it.

As I open my eyes and take in the sight of the bathroom again, I do the division mentally. 1800 seconds divided by 60...would be 180 divided by 6, which is...thirty minutes?! _Damn, that's half of lunch break gone! On a silly game!_

I jump up and dust my pants off, and glance at the clock. "Sorry, Pound, Aomizu, I'll join you for lunch tomorrow. Right now I don't think I've got enough time to...to..."

_Are my eyes playing tricks on me? Didn't we just spend half an hour in a game?_ Yet, the clock is clearly showing 2.07pm, right before my eyes. _My Neuro Linker can't be hacked, can it be?_

Aomizu and Pound take their time to stand up, their eyes glittering unexpectedly.

"Aomizu...what's the time now?" I whisper.

"Exactly 2.08pm, Kyousuke!" A rare smile is on her face, the kind a kid makes when he finds a great hiding spot for hide-and-seek.

"And that's why Kotori called it « Acceleration », Kyousuke." Pound folds his arms again. "Time in Brain Burst flows a thousand times faster than in the real world. We spent 1800 seconds in the « Snowy Mountain » stage, and while our bodies are asleep just like normal FullDive applications..."

He lowers his voice for effect. "From the moment we said the magic words 'Burst Link', we have only sat down for a mere 1.8 seconds in reality."

I can't move again; my body and brain are frozen while I process this. _It's not possible! How can a normal human brain operate a thousand times faster?!_

"Now, now, Kyousuke," A tiny smile appears on Pound's lips for a brief moment. "Shall we go for lunch now?"

**end of chapter 2.**

* * *

Author's Notes:

Hi guys!

Once again, I'm still amazed I can crank out another 6000-word chapter. I'm sorry it took so long though!

This is going to be a very, very, _very_ long story. I now understand why Kawahara didn't even bother with names and identities for the second and third Chrome Disasters. Just follow along and, well, give me some motivation to complete it? :P

To give you a rough guide, we're in the first of three arcs, The Return Of The Disaster Armour. And...if I keep up at this pace, I _might_ complete it in about 10 chapters. _I think._

Credits to defination for beta-reading. (:

As usual, review, follow, and favourite if you approve! Give me some feedback so that I can mature into a good writer. (:


	3. The Accelerated World

**The Accelerated World**

* * *

_« Acceleration » is very powerful. Winning at fights, getting full marks on tests, big wins in gambling or sports all become very easy...Thus, once we have tasted this forbidden fruit, we will forever continue to « Accelerate ». For that we need Burst Points, the only way we can keep fighting forever._

_-Kuroyukihime, « Lure of Acceleration »_

* * *

"1.8 seconds..."

Long after I had walked down the stairs with Pound and Aomizu by my side, I was still suffering from shock. Shock that this game, Brain Burst, was unlike any game that I had ever played.

I didn't notice it at first when I had first « accelerated » in the fourth-floor boys' bathroom earlier, because with the three of us sitting down completely still, it escaped my perception at first. It was only after the game finished, and « acceleration » was cancelled, that I realised its true potential.

"Kyousuke...aren't you going to eat?" Aomizu nudged me with her elbow.

Presently, I was now eating lunch - or rather, trying to eat. I was still busy trying to wrap my head around the entire concept of « acceleration ».

In Hiroo Elementary's school cafeteria, two enclosed areas were set up in their corners. One of them is exclusively for the 5th and 6th year students, so that they could eat in relative peace and quiet. I still don't understand why, but even teachers who would scold students frequently would lower their voices and speak respectfully upon entering this plain-looking room unadorned except for potted plants by the windows.

Pound, Aomizu, and I occupied one such table inside the room, eating silently. Pound tore into his lunch as though he hadn't seen real food for days, while Aomizu delicately nibbled at a slice of fish.

I, on the other hand, moodily stirred my fork in my glass of water for absolutely no reason other than to appear interested in the food.

What is « acceleration »? This fundamental question was presently devouring all of my brain's capacity to think.

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as a girl stepped inside, looking for a free table. She's carrying a tray laden with two bowls of curry rice, and as I watch a little more closely, the tray is obstructing her view of the floor.

Consequently, the girl's next step is directly over a dropped plastic bottle cap, the cap being wedged at the extreme edge of her shoe. She stumbles, and the tray wobbles ever so slightly...and begins to fall.

Without thinking, I utter the command to begin « acceleration » again:

"Burst Link."

Again, the world turns electric blue, and from the reconstructed silhouette of my real body, my net avatar materialises. Feet clad in socks come to rest on the 'floor' of this virtual environment.

Now that I can properly observe, the real world really does seem to have stood still. The bowl of rice is almost completely tilted over now, but its contents appear stuck to the bowl's insides.

_So Pound is telling the truth_, I concede. _This application, Brain Burst really accelerates my sense of time by a thousandfold._

I look around this virtual space again, and examine the falling bowl of rice closely. Since I have not actually stopped time, but rather, I'm examining phenomena as they appear a thousand times slower, I should expect the bowl to still be moving, but very, very slowly. Indeed, the bowl is tipping over with all the grace of a ghost and the speed of a snail.

_Eh?_ As I scrutinise the reconstructed image of the bowl, its contents no longer appear to contain rice. Instead, half of the inside of the bowl appears to be covered with a flat surface like a shadow. However, a swirl of colours is projected on this new surface, giving the impression of infinite depth. Why, then?

It strikes me then, that this bore a striking resemblance to a waxing moon. I think back to Pound's words earlier: _The surroundings are captured by the « Social Security Cameras », but rendered into an environment by Brain Burst._

If that is the case...then is this 'shadow' is the product of an area unseen by the « Camera Network »? I try to spot the Camera from the bowl's perspective, but the area is simply too small. Unless...

I look closely at the girl, her expression only beginning to register the initial expression of shock. If my theory is right, then it should be harmless, but in the event I am wrong, I will probably be branded a « pervert » if Pound or Aomizu found out.

I squat down and reach out gingerly to attempt to lift the hem of blue fabric, and immediately spot the observation that confirms my theory. Without needing to lift the recreation of the girl's uniform, the area of her legs just below her skirt is also covered in the same coloured shadow - proving that areas blocked from sight from the « Camera Network » are not rendered. That said, it works just as well the other way round - what I cannot view from my own eyes can be seen by any Camera in the area.

I straighten up, relieved that I do not have to actually commit the act completely. "Link Out!" I called, expecting the « acceleration » to end and return to my lunch.

Nothing happens.

_Oh damn! I never asked Pound nor Aomizu how to cancel « acceleration »!_

* * *

"Had fun, Kyousuke?" Pound asked sarcastically when I returned to the real world. The bowls of curry rice had crashed to the floor a minute ago, and now several students were helping to sweep up the ruined meal.

While still in the state of « acceleration », I had nothing better to do other than to open up Mr Tsubaki's homework and attempt some of the questions, passing by the time until the state of « acceleration » cut off automatically after about 30 minutes.

"Will you just tell me the command to cancel « acceleration »? I promise I won't do it again!"

Pound scoffs at this. "I imagine you were disappointed when you realise you couldn't see-"

"No, you're wrong!" I practically shout, attracting more than a few stares. Recovering myself, I begin again in a softer voice.

"I was just..well, observing the real world while in « acceleration »!"

"Oh really? Just observing?" Aomizu has joined in as well, glaring daggers at me while managing to blush. Unfortunately, I know exactly what they're both thinking of.

"S..sorry! But I really didn't do anything wrong!"

"Guilty conscience, eh?"

Pound and Aomizu used the better part of the remaining lunch break to needle me over this. Only later, when we're returning to our classrooms, then does he turn and explain to me.

"The command is « Burst Out »."

"Th..thanks, Pound.."

"But lemme warn you," he leaned in threateningly. "I have close to _zero_ respect for those who abuse Brain Burst."

He pointed at himself. "I practice boxing in my free time, both online and offline, but it's my personal motto to _never_ use « acceleration » to win."

"Brain Burst might seem to be a game to you, but it's the other way round. We don't « accelerate » to fight; we're fighting for the right to continue « acceleration ». Didn't Kotori tell you earlier?"

I glanced at her for a fleeting moment; Aomizu is observing us with a somewhat detached look in her eyes.

"Yes..yeah she did."

"Good." He finally stood straight up, and I released the tiniest of sighs.

"Meet me at the cafeteria again after school ends." He called after me as I start to walk back to class. "I still need to teach you how to fight!"

"Uh, okay then."

I turn to look at Aomizu, who has also been walking behind me silently as we walk to class. After about a minute or so, I turned to ask her a question that had been bugging me since lunch.

"Aomizu..why is Pound so serious about this game?"

"Because it's not just a game to us."

_Huh? But..isn't the whole application set up as a game?_

"You won't understand it, Kyousuke, not yet. You've only used it for yourself once, and that's not enough to see how good it gets."

"And what do you mean by that?"

This draws Aomizu to a sudden stop, but when I look around, I realise her cheeks are flushed; Aomizu is actually showing _emotion_ over this.

"Well, you should know that you duel with other Burst Linkers, right? You duelled Pound earlier, and that was only looking for duels within the school network."

"Um..I guess so? Wait, does this mean that in the Global Net, there are other players?"

"Certainly. There are about four to five hundred Burst Linkers in Tokyo area alone."

_Five hundred? Potentially five hundred opponents?!_

"It doesn't mean, though, that everyone are enemies," Aomizu quickly catches herself, and resumed her slow walk to class. "Most of us are..well, _followers_ of some of the stronger Linkers. I said earlier that Pound was Level 4, right? I'm a Level 4 Linker as well, but the strongest Linkers now are about Level 6."

"Then..does that make you guys..um, old players?"

"Veterans, Kyousuke. Veterans." Aomizu suggested. "And yes, we veterans follow these Level 6 Linkers."

"How many are there? And..is there a maximum level or something? Or is there none?"

"Um..." Aomizu cocks her head and stares off into space. "I think there are about ten to twelve, I think..was that everyone? When the last time we met..." She starts to count off on her fingers, muttering under her breath.

"Anyway," She suddenly turns back to me. "This isn't important. Pound will tell you what you need to know later."

"You mean, after school?"

"Yes, and so will I." She ends her sentence with a tiny wink, and ducked into the classroom.

This actually leaves me with more questions than answers, but for now it really is time for lesson.

_Pound better have more answers than Aomizu, if she's not talking._

* * *

Two coils of wire lie on the table, unmistakably XSB Link Cables. Pound is sitting there before me, blankly staring ahead.

Aomizu and I sit down opposite from him. She picks up both cables and connects the two to ports in her Neuro Linker. Pound changes his focus to the cable coils, and picks up one end and clips it to his Neuro Linker as well.

I hesitate. « Direct Connecting » is a pretty uncomfortable thought; with a wired connection, a determined hacker has already bypassed eight security measures embedded in the operating software. Having received Brain Burst from Aomizu yesterday, and being repaid with a horrible nightmare that very night, I was not in the mood to accept a connection.

"Connect yourself, Kyousuke," Aomizu urges. "We need to use « thought communication » to speak privately."

"Hurry up, Kyousuke. Somebody will get me for this if you don't listen to us."

_Well then, is Pound actually afraid of someone?_ Even while I entertain this thought, I'm still connecting the second XSB cable with deliberate slowness, making sure my reluctance is clearly written all over my face. I pop the plug into my Linker and receive the « Physical Connection Warning » dialogue window again.

"Well then, Kyousuke," Pound claps his hands together, not even saying 'Hi,' or anything like that. "You know what to do."

We're gathered in the cafeteria's enclosed area again, the only place we can discuss « acceleration » in relative privacy. Pound places his hand on the table and shows three fingers. A countdown. I look up at him and receive a nod in response. Next to me, Aomizu has just sat down as well; pausing only to take a sip of water, and she nods at Pound to tell him she's ready.

_Three...two..one..._

"Burst Link!" we chorus.

With a "BAASHIN" sound effect I hadn't noticed before, the world turns electric blue again. Three net avatars are recreated and appear in this space simultaneously.

"Now then," Pound points a boxing glove at me. "To continue where we left off from earlier. Open your menu again, Kyousuke, and click on the option labelled 'Storage'."

"Should I be expecting anything inside?" I open my menu but my finger just hovers over the option. _If there are any more surprises in this game, I want to know beforehand._

"Actually, yes," Pound retorts. "Your « Storage » contains every item and equipment you can find in Brain Burst. You remember that I said earlier, you should be in posession of a « Enhanced Armament », right?"

"Yeah, and what's that supposed to be?"

"Every avatar has some potential for either combat or support," Pound elaborated. "The golden rule is that avatars of the same Level have the same potential."

"However," He cleared his throat. "The exceptions to this rule mainly occur because of « Enhanced Armaments ». They're pieces of equipment that can vary widely, depending on their affinity. I've seen swords, rifles, shields, and there's even a _jetpack_, of all things..."

Curiously, Pound is flustered when he mentions the jetpack. I don't know what to make of it though, so I just keep listening.

"There are four ways of getting Armaments. The first, and the most probable one now, is getting it as your default equipment when you first receive Brain Burst. That's why," He gestures at me again. "It's going to be in your storage."

"How'd you figure that out anyway?" I'm feeling a little dryness in my mouth after listening to Pound's analysis.

"Like I said," He shrugged. "Same level, same potential."

"Oh, I know I'm a Level 4 and you're a level 1," He continued as soon as the objection is on my lips. "But the point is, your starting moves were already _too_ weak for any normal Level 1 avatar. All that combat potential has to go somewhere, and it has to be in an Armament."

"So," he concludes patiently. "Check your Storage."

_I give up. Pound knows more than me anyway._

Opening the Storage, a larger window opens up, I scroll up and down, but..there's nothing.

"Uh..Pound?"

"Swipe to the left, Kyousuke. By default, it shows « Items » first." Aomizu answers this time.

I swipe, realising that there's a title at the top of the window. Once, twice, thrice, and then I see it.

**Enhanced Armaments**

**Turquoise Shields**

"It's...it's there. 'Turquoise Shields'." I whisper in disbelief. Then something strikes me.

"If I have had these all along, why didn't they show up?"

Pound and Aomizu are sighing in relief even as I ask. _Seriously, how is it a good thing? I just don't get it._

"You can choose to equip them first," Pound explained in a much gentler tone. "You can do that by right-clicking on the Armament and select « Equip At Battle Start ». Just ignore the other options for now."

Pound nudged Aomizu. "Challenge your child, Kotori."

"Ch-child?!"

Somehow, I manage the feat of choking and spluttering even in a virtual environment. Pound and Aomizu stare momentarily before bursting into laughter - loud, raucous peals of laughter.

"He..he doesn't mean « Child » literally, Kyousuke," Aomizu struggled to hold back her laughter. "Though, would you like it if i call you _Kyou-chan_ now? Wahahaha!"

Unfortunately, my avatar, mirroring my emotions in every aspect, is visibly flushing in embarrassment as well. Taking my cue from Pound's order to Aomizu, I swiftly select the « Matching List » option, and ram the name **Magnesium Drake** as hard as I possibly can.

The environment swiftly dissolves into a dimensionless void. Rings of light envelop me, and I'm suddenly aware of new sensations, giving me the feeling that the duel avatar « Turquoise Protector » is being assembled around me.

The void vanished and clears to reveal a large, open field I vaguely recognise as the school running track and field. Extremely tall grass grew all around, drenched in the light of a setting sun.

"Ehh..._Kyou-chan_, why did you duel me?"

From the diminutive shrine maiden avatar, Aomizu's faux playful voice, so unlike her as I knew, emanated across the space in this virtual environment. A cool wind blew and rustling noises filled the air.

"Will you just stop calling me _Kyou-chan_?!" I shout. Taking a step forward, I lifted my left hand to point threateningly at her, and-

_This..this is the Turquoise Shield?_

Fixed to my left forearm is an enormous shield that wasn't there before, shining in the sunlight. I turn my arm over to see it, and actually draw a gasp of surprise. There's just no other word for it; the shield is _beautiful_.

A large, six-sided plate of metal is the base, with two edges elongated so that it looked more like the silhouette of a coffin. But there's nothing remotely disturbing about it's main feature, the reason for my surprise: a beautiful turquoise cross, curved on the insides and edges, adorns the centre and practically makes up the entire surface area. In the twilight, I can't tell for sure, but the rest is filled in with white while the very edges are dark blue. The cross is made from what seems to be crystal - sparkling, rapturous crystal that catches the light and scatters a reflected pattern over my eyes.

_I want to touch it,_ I'm barely able to think. I reach over to stroke the cross with my right, or at least try, because the feeling of a heavy weight in my grasp brings to attention _another_ identical shield - held by a handle in the palm of my hand. I pick it up and I can _feel _its weight, solid and reassuring. The handle and back side of the shields are both pure, unadorned white that is pleasing to the eye.

I've gone quiet for so long, Aomizu has to walk up and tap me on the shoulder to get my attention.

"..usuke? Hello? Earth to Kyousuke?"

"..er, yeah. Yeah, I'm listening."

"I know, they're..um, they're very _pretty_, I guess."

I currently can't spare the brain capacity to berate Aomizu for calling the shields pretty. _My_ shields, rather. Somehow, I finally manage to break the magical hold they have on my attention.

"Eh, you were saying, Aomizu?"

"I was saying," she huffed. "That « Enhanced Armaments » usually grant you extra moves! Check your move list again!"

With the shield on my left arm hindering movement quite a bit, I clumsily click on my avatar's name to bring down the in-game menu. I bring up the move list - lo and behold, more moves have indeed appeared.

**Enhanced Armament: Left Turquoise Shield:**

**Normal Move « Thrust »**

In any position, thrust the left arm forward in a punching motion.

**Enhanced Armament: Right Turquoise Shield:**

**Normal Move « Block »**

In any position, hold shield directly in front of the body.

**Normal Move « Sideswipe »**

Holding shield upright, swing from left to right or right to left. Does damage if shield hits opponent.

**Special Move « Solidarity »**

Brace feet apart, right foot behind to deploy anchors. Reflects damage of a single hit. Chance to shatter upon second consecutive hit.

"Well? How does it look like now?" Pound has just jogged up to us, having appeared elsewhere as a « Spectator ». Wordlessly, I tap the « Make Window Visible » option again and let the updated screen do the talking.

"Yeah! That should be more like it!" Pound's avatar doesn't appear to allow for facial expressions, but the sparks of light representing his eyes lift and widen in clear delight, and he pumps his fist. Inwardly, I sigh in relief as well; after examining the avatar for the first time, I genuinely thought that in this game, I was next to useless.

"Anyway," Pound addressed me again. "You're not actually supposed to duel Kotori now, I only wanted to see the Armaments that you had. You're fighting someone else today. Kotori, end it in a draw."

"Who?"

Pound doesn't answer, but instead gives the command to cancel his acceleration and his avatar disappears. A holographic window appears in front of me with some English words on it: I'm guessing it's the draw request.

Aomizu is looking rather expectantly at my hesitation. Resigned to whatever Pound has in store for me, I struggle to read and interpret, and finally click the button that says **[ACCEPT]**. A window appears, displaying what I take to be the result of the duel, but now I notice in smaller font below that displays how many Burst Points I have remaining: exactly 97. The window fades before I can finish though, and transitions to a blank view.

* * *

"Once you step outside the school gate, you'll connect to the « Global Net », and if you were to accelerate at that instant, you'll see the matching list has a lot more names." Pound explained.

We're standing a few steps away from the main gate of school, where apparently Pound has some last words to say to me for the day. Aomizu has already left, saying ambiguously "Someone else will take care of you!"

Pound paused for a moment to busy himself with what appears to be an incoming mail, and listening closely, I can hear mumbles and snatches of words under his breath. He sends a final mail and glances back at me.

"He will challenge you instead, so you are to just walk out of the school gate. The moment someone else challenges you, you will automatically accelerate and get spawned in the stage first. It doesn't cost you Burst Points for this."

"Who's he, Pound?"

"Ah, he's someone strong. among the strongest, rather, but he'll take good care of you if you impress him." He added a sly wink to underscore his point. "We're quite shorthanded...you'll have to do, I guess."

"Who is he, Pound?"

"Nope, I can't tell you." Another wink. "But you'll find out, so get going!"

He sidesteps me and gives a pretty hard push, nearly making me stumble. Recovering, I try to shoot him a glare of frustration, but Pound simply shakes his head and makes a shooing motion with his hand.

_When I get to Level 4, I'll come back and kick him for this,_ I thought. Taking in a deep breath, I lift my foot. One step..two steps..three steps. I'm now standing outside the gate.

My Neuro Linker, detecting that I've stepped out of the school boundaries, automatically disconnects from Hiroo Elementary's network. A small popup appears to inform me I've now connected to the Global Net, and then winked out. I brace myself for the sudden acceleration..

..nothing? I turn back to see Pound's expression; it's back to his normal controlled expression, betraying nothing.

_...this is stupid,_ I think. I turn back, intending to start running back to the train station, when-

BAASHIN!

That sound effect rings in my ears and the world turns blue for the third time today.

_No warning whatsoever?!_ My frustration with this game has just gone up a notch; I suddenly feel quite naked while the duel avatar is loaded and created, something I didn't experience earlier.

The stage loads quickly at least, because the rings of light fade out and disappear. There's a _clank_ sound as my feet touched ground, but..the blank view is still there? I blink furiously before I grasp it.

The stage _did _load, but it's a night-themed environment. Above, the sky is black except for purplish clouds in the distance, and all around me are the same buildings as the ones outside our school. However, they're just a shade lighter than the sky, which made it extremely difficult to distinguish their outlines. Looking down, the sky provides just enough light to discern the outlines of my feet from the dark floor.

Stepping out, I notice two green rings of light just beyond the point where a traffic junction lies near our school. Flaming words appear at the same time:

**Here Comes A New Challenger!**

Looking beyond, I realise it's not totally dark; spotlights dot the edges of the stage in places. The now familiar clanking noise of the game interface reaches me, and I look up to see the Health Gauge bars. On the left is mine as usual, showing my name. On the right, however, is a name I've obviously not seen before..

"...**Green..Grande**?" I whispered the name out loud.

The rings of light wink out of existence, and I get my first look at the opponent at last, and - there's no other word for it - he is _green_. From head to toe, armour plates cover every part of his avatar. A V-shaped attachment on his helmet strongly reminded me of a horned beetle I saw in a picture book in my younger days.

What caught my attention, though, was his _huge_ shield. Easily twice the size of one of my shields, the shield looked like a large rectangle with reinforced corners. In the very centre, a bright yellow jewel shone, sparkling from within.

For whatever reason, I sensed a _tremendous _pressure unlike anything I felt before. Emanating from this challenger was a definite feeling of strength - the strength to weather a thousand strikes without retreating a single step.

Green Grande took a few steps forward, his massive feet shaking the earth slightly with each step. As though caught in an attractive field, I too walked up to Grande until our avatars were about two metres apart. His avatar seemed about as tall, if not taller than Iron Pound's, so once again I found myself looking up.

"You are the new « Child » from Magnesium Drake, am I correct?" A boy's voice issues from deep somewhere, so deep I nearly mistaken it for a teenager's voice.

"Yes, I am." I reflexively respond formally.

I don't receive a reply and tense up, but Green Grande is simply looking up and down at my avatar. His gaze lingers on my shields for quite awhile, and I momentarily forget it's a duel.

"Well, then, let's duel," He finally breaks the silence. "Let's see how strong you are first."

"You..you are the « Invulnerable » one mentioned by Pound, am I right?" I suddenly recall.

A curt nod is all I get in reply. He hefts the massive shield in his hand, I presume, and sets it down with a BANG of metal on earth. Just over the top edge, Grande's eyes are both staring at me, and they're narrowed in wariness.

"So, I have to reduce this guy's health to zero, huh..." I mutter to myself.

It certainly doesn't look easy. Thinking back to the _danmaku_ games I play as a hobby, I quickly conclude that frontal attacks are not the way to go; a boss like this usually nullifies all frontal attacks. Therefore, his vulnerability must be..his sides and back?

Lowering my head, I dash forward, pumping the avatar's legs. Oddly, this avatar seems to be able to run extremely fast, even though I'm holding the two large « Turquoise Shields » in my hands. I close the gap in no time at all, and thrust forward-

CLANG.

My shield makes contact with that green monolith with a shower of sparks. I glance at Grande's HP gauge: naturally, with the shield taking all the damage, his gauge has not decreased at all. Curiously, though, there is a small increase in a slimmer green gauge just below both our HP bars, one gauge for each of us.

The force of the recoil pushes me back. _Time for the sides!_

In _danmaku_, the beginner approach is to ride out the waves by dodging the hail of bullets, and scoring points and killing enemies are secondary priority. Experts, however, who know exactly where and how the bullets are shot, can score mega-high scores and still dodge bullets. I've been playing such games for a few years now, and can reasonably match at least a third to a half of their scores.

So for an enemy like Green Grande, he would be similar to the types of bosses that have « Vertical Attack Spellcards », whereby they shoot straight down at your character. Dodging the shots is impossible, and one cannot shoot them from the spot you want, it is being filled by thousands of bullets. In other words, « Frontal Attacks » cannot be used.

Hence, to defeat Grande, I must either circumvent his shield, or remove it completely. Neither option has a very good probability of success, but compared to standing in front and repeatedly striking that huge shield, they are more attractive by a few orders of magnitude.

Keeping this in mind, I swing my left arm up and to the right - a feint to give the impression I will be shifting my path to Grande's left. He spots this and quickly ducked behind the huge plate. However, I change direction; swinging my right arm and the shield away, I force the avatar's momentum to be adjusted to a different path - by following the motion of the shield being swung in a clockwise direction, I end up at Grande's right. _I can make it...!_

CLANG.

Somehow, Grande anticipated the move and moved his shield accordingly, knocking me clean off my feet. With several sickening CRUNCH sounds, I trip over myself and crash into a heap. In the corner of my vision, my HP gauge is shaved off by a few points. With earth-shaking steps, Grande moves up, lifting his shield as well. _He's going to crush me with that?!_

I don't stick around for him to score a free hit; springing up, I take off and head for some of the tall buildings in the distance.

_Maybe, just maybe, there's a way to hit him still._

* * *

The thickly armoured feet of the avatar, Green Grande, make a highly conspicuous sound whenever he walks. Thus, he rarely ever chased the opponent during duels, instead preferring to let the opponent come for him.

Right now, however, he was doing just that for the sole purpose of seeking a proper duel with this newbie Burst Linker, Turquoise Protector. His lieutenant had indeed picked a suitable « Child »; the high colour saturation of the avatar had just proved that. However, he had not totally anticipated the shields; even he, the best « Invulnerable » avatar yet, only had one shield.

His footsteps echoing off the walls, the heavyweight-class avatar walked slowly and steadily among the tall buildings on either side of him. This was a bad place for an ambush; with wide streets and alleys, any surprise attack would require considerable speed to stand a reasonable chance of success.

Footsteps from far away echoed softly throughout the stage. Grande turned and looked around, anticipating a flash of blue-green around him..

Nothing. The only avatar standing was him.

With the timer ticking its way through the last ten minutes of the duel, Grande was grimly concluding that this « Child » was a coward. That, or his lieutenants had failed to properly instruct him. Neither conclusion was good.

Grande reached a particularly tall building with several spotlights pointing up. Characteristic of many buildings rendered in the « Demonic City » stage, this building had large ridges running from its bottom to the top, giving off an impression of large claws sticking up from the ground. Above, there might be a ledge or balcony that serves as a spawn point for this building's counterpart in the Unlimited Field.

A tiny flash of light on his shield caught his eye; a reflection of a spotlight's beam. He brushed it aside, then stopped in horror.

_All the spotlights point upwards, so the only way I'd see a reflected ray is if-_

He chose this moment to look up, and unfortunately his vision was soon filled with that glimmering, turquoise cross.

* * *

_YES!_

With a screech of tortured metal, I drove my left shield right into Grande's shocked face. The helmet attachment detached and crumpled from the force, and he reflexively let go of his shield, letting it fall with a _clang_. Twisting from the impact, I brought up my right shield to meet the ground, and was reintroduced to terra firma.

It was more of a question of luck, really. Had Grande taken a left turn instead, I would have wasted all my time by climbing up the wrong building. Glancing at the health gauges, it cheered me to see that while I had taken a terrible beating by falling from that height, Grande's HP had taken an equally punishing reduction; our gauges were now equal.

Rolling to a sitting position, I stood up and glanced and Grande. Miraculously, he was still standing, although he was clutching his ruined helmet. Fragments of his helmet were scattered and clearly, he was feeling pain.

It then hit me, that I was feeling bruised all over, no doubt a direct result of my suicidal fall. Experimenting, I jab my shield into my foot and- _OW!_

_Pain is truly simulated in this world, is it? If so, then.._

I limp over to Grande. "Uh..are you okay? Does it hurt?"

One eye peeked through a massive green hand. "What do you think?"

"Uh, sorry!" I bowed for added respect.

Grande saw all this, and promptly burst into laughter as well. "My my..this is a duel really. Still.."

He bent over to pick up his fallen shield. "That was quite clever," he remarked nonchalantly. "Many have tried to pull off my shield, or feint as you just did...but no one has ever jumped from the stage, betting on an extremely small probability of success."

Given his light, polite tone, as though we were merely discussing where to eat, I decided to follow his cue and replied as well. "Well, it is like _danmaku_ after all, there's always a way to beat the boss."

"Always?" He narrowed his eyes. "Do you believe that?"

_Where did that come from?_ "Ye..yes, but why do you ask?"

"I ask you again. Do you believe, that even outnumbered and outgunned, there always exists a way to win?" There's much more pressure and conviction in his tone; I'm shrinking back reflexively.

_Remember a time when you were cornered and helpless, and yet you still continued to fight-_

I grip my shield a little tighter, trying to drive out the recollection. Clenching my teeth, I meet Grande's overpowering gaze and answer:

"Yes..yes, they exist."

"Good."

Leaving me with that anticlimatic ending to the conversation, he turned on his heel and made to leave.

"Eh, wait, wait a bit! There's still some time left! Isn't this a duel?"

"Of course, but I'll consider this as your win."

"Why? I can't pull that trick again, right?"

"But _you_ were able to think of that," He turns and points squarely at my avatar's mask. "You, out-leveled and weaker than me, didn't give up and still tried to fight. That kind of determination is badly needed."

"By who?"

"Me, of course. Call it a draw?"

The system window appears in front of me. Once more, I'm in a duel with no winner, just..just partners.

"What..what do you mean, you need me?" I ask a final question.

"I want you to join my leadership, of course." Grande replied evenly. "You and Iron Pound, flying the flag of the Invulnerable Great Wall Circle. At least, until legions can be formed."

I look up at him, and back at the draw request.

"I'll meet you in the real world," Grande suddenly added on. "I'm standing outside your school gate, and Pound is coming with me as well."

_So that this guy can talk me into joining his group? No thanks, really._ As far as I had seen, this was just another FullDive game, and if what Aomizu had said was absolutely correct, then membership depended on these fights; fights that really hurt, and lose too many fights leads to the loss of your game.

And yet...with this, I gain the power of « acceleration », which allowed me to see so many things in much greater detail. The question is, though, is whether it was worth it. I think back to my reply to Aomizu on my first day back.

Slowly, a turquoise finger reached out and touched the button. Blinking in acceptance, the system window vanished and was replaced with a larger window:

**Result is a DRAW!**

**Between Turquoise Protector [Level 1] and Green Grande [Level 5]**

_Level 5?!_ _So strong?!_

The perspective cleared and goes to black. My first real fight in the « Accelerated World » has once again, finished in a draw.

**end of chapter 3.**

* * *

**A/N: **Well, hello there. Thank you for taking the time to keep reading through all these chapters here!

In between, I have been writing oneshots, check them and review if you please.

Chapter 4 will be in the works longer because I'm now going to work on my other ongoing fanfic, Starry Skies Tainted By Flood.

Once more, thanks for reading, reviewing, and favouriting if you may!


End file.
